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When Tennyson penned the searing words about the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade, “Not though the soldiers knew/Some one had blundered”, he was – like the poet laureate’s angry readers – demanding answers to one of the most pressing questions of the day: what led to the slaughter?

Most of the blame has been aimed at Lord Raglan, who ordered his men to prevent the Russian army seizing the British guns, and Lord Lucan, the officer who carried out his instructions.

But more than 160 years on, a letter found among documents at the British Library written by one of the soldiers at Balaclava says the cavalry’s rank and file blamed a more junior officer.

The document has shed light on one of the British Empire’s worst military defeats, in which 107 men out of 676 were killed, 187 wounded, 50 captured, and 400 horses slaughtered.

Fitzroy James Henry Somerset, (1788 - 1855), 1st Baron Raglan, who gave the order that led to the disastrous charge of the Light BrigadeCredit:
Roger Fenton/Hutton Archive

Lord Raglan had intended to send the Light Brigade to prevent the Russians removing the captured guns. However, the cavalry was sent on a suicidal frontal assault against a different artillery battery.

When the brigade charged into the valley it found itself surrounded on three sides by the Russian guns, with devastating results.

The letter written by Lieutenant Frederick Maxse, who was serving on Lord Raglan’s staff, said the widespread feeling among the surviving men was that a 36-year-old officer called Captain Louis Nolan was to blame.

Capt Nolan was the messenger who conveyed Lord Raglan’s written orders to Lord Lucan, instructing him to “follow the enemy and try to prevent the enemy from carrying away the guns”.

However, Prof Saul David, who has studied Lieut Maxse’s account, says Capt Nolan – who had served in India and saw himself as a military tactician – over-egged Lord Raglan’s orders.

Addressing Lord Lucan, Capt Nolan gestured towards the Russian forces and said: “There, my lord, is your enemy! There are your guns!” Capt Nolan demanded to be allowed to join the charge being led by Lord Cardigan on Oct 25, 1854, but was one of the first to fall when shrapnel from an exploding shell pierced his chest as he galloped to the front of the Light Brigade’s assault.

Lieut Maxse wrote: “On looking to the left, saw poor Nolan lying dead who 10 minutes before I had seen eager & full of life, galloping down to Lord Lucan, anxious & determined to make him do something with the cavalry (of which he is a member).”

He records Capt Nolan’s apparent resentment at the behaviour of the cavalry until then. “He was always very indignant at the little they had done in this campaign & bitter against Lord L,” he wrote.

“All the cavalry lay this disastrous charge on his soldiers & say that he left no option to Lord L to whom they say his tone was almost taunting on delivering the message – if he was to blame he has paid the penalty.”

A second staff officer, Nigel Kingscoteé, confirmed the view that Capt Nolan was to blame for the disaster, later telling Raglan’s son that he “would no doubt have been broke by court martial” had he lived.

October 25, 1854: The charge of the Light Brigade at the battle of Balaclava during the Crimean WarCredit:
Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Prof David, who teaches military history at the University of Buckingham, said all three key figures bore some responsibility but posterity would reserve its sternest judgment for Capt Nolan.

“So contemptuous was he of Lucan’s ability, so desperate for the cavalry to show its worth, that he failed in the one essential task of a staff galloper: to provide the officer in receipt of the message with the necessary clarification,” he writes in the latest edition of BBC History Magazine.

“It seems, moreover, that he used the word ’attack’ when Raglan had intended a mere show of force. If so, Nolan bears the chief responsibility for what followed.”

George Charles Bingham (1800 - 1888), 3rd Earl of Lucan, commander of cavalry in the Crimean War and senior officer on the ground Credit:
Hulton Archive